Snakes, horror films, video games: Slash talks about his pet passions

Most music fans in the world can identify the song when the guitar riff for Sweet Child o’ Mine starts playing. The characteristic tune makes us nostalgic and we start humming along to the song that never gets old, the song that is played in college concerts and is taught to youngsters learning to play the electric guitar, such is the massive influence of the melody. But ask Slash, the creator of the tune, about it and he says that he cannot wrap his head around it. “When people tell me about the influences I may have, I understand what that means, but for me to be an influence on someone else is very hard to fathom. I came from that place where I was, and still am, heavily influenced by different guitar players and musicians, bands and different kinds of music, so it’s very surreal (to be an influence) You can say it but I don’t really get it,” Slash told Firstpost in an interview, where he discussed his music, affinity for reptiles, film production and even his Angry birds fascination. [caption id=“attachment_2498704” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Musician Slash in a file photo. Reuters[/caption] The 50-year old music legend is in India for MTV Indies Xtreme, organised by LIVE Viacom18 and Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators. He will be performing in Mumbai on 7 November and Bengaluru on 14 November. And Slash seemed very excited to be back in India. “It’s been 15 years so it is really nice to finally get here and be able to go around and see things. I was really disappointed (when the 2013 tour to India was cancelled due to logistical issues) and I’m glad we finally made it,” says Slash as he recounts his memorable experiences from the last trip where he played with local musicians. Another reason he loves being in India – the snakes! Slash has a self-confessed ‘thing for snakes’. “Snakes are just something I have been into ever since I can’t remember. I’ve always loved animals in general, but I have this thing for snakes, so I love being here because there are great snakes,” he laughs. Snakes are just one part of his fascination with the terrifying, Slash is also a horror fiction buff. In fact he has converted his love of horror films into an alternate career with the launch of Slasher film, his horror film production company founded in 2010. The first film, Nothing Left To Fear was out in 2013 and now he is ‘knee deep’ into the production of the next film called The Hell Within. Music and film production may seem to be diverse interests, but they have been the two biggest influences in his life. “When I was a little kid, still living in England, I was heavily influenced by one, music and two, was science fiction and horror movies. I never thought to do either you know but somehow I picked up the guitar and I’ve been doing that and but I have still always been a horror fan and someone gave me the opportunity to produce and I was like f**k this is great," he says, his enthusiasm is visible. “Horror film production is another creative outlet that I feel like I have an aptitude for it. I really love the details of getting you know the right kind of horror movie together and I definitely have a particular kind of taste in what I want to do, and nobody else does it.” So first he stirs us with his music and then he scares us? Seems like a fitting description for the tattooed, pierced, curly-haired rockstar. (And, no I didn’t ask him the pressing question many fans seem to have – his brand of hair products!) So what films does the horror buff like? “Alien was hands down my favorite science fiction, and then a I’d say The Omen, the original Omen is one of my favorite horror,” says Slash. From films to video games, Slash is known to be a huge fan of Angry Birds and he even created a rock version of the Angry Birds Space theme. Ask him about the ‘Slash bird’ created for him and he chuckles, “It’s cool, right? I was working with them and we had an idea to do Angry Rockstar band and I am hoping we can do it. It’s my all-time favorite video game!” Any collaboration with Slash is something to look forward to, but what about his favorite collaborators? His debut solo album Slash was a compilation featuring several artists, from Ozzy Ozbourne to Adam Levine. “There’s no favorite, I mean everybody to work with, I mean it was great working with obviously heroes of mine… and really talented contemporary artists… so it was a good mix, and I wouldn’t say that anyone was better than the other. They were all very different, and they were all very easy, and fun,” he said.